Hongtao Sun

Affiliate Researcher
Titles and Affiliations
Assistant Professor, John and Willie Leone Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering (EME)

Dr. Sun's research lies at the intersection of energy science, functional materials, and advanced manufacturing. The focus of his lab at Penn State is on co-designing materials, structures, and manufacturing processes across hierarchical length scales, particularly advancing in energy conversion and storage, thermal management, sensing, and detections.

In the News

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Recent Publications

Boosting the Sodium-Ion Transport and Surface Pseudocapacitance of a SnO2 Nanoflower at a High Mass Loading Level for High Areal Capacity and Fast Sodium-Ion Storage

Guo, K. X., Zhang, Y. H., Wang, Q., Yu, D. W., Zhang, Y. G., Ji, P. G., Khalilov, U., Wang, G. K., Zhang, X., Wang, K., Song, Y. X., Zhong, X. B., Sun, H. T. & Liang, J. F., Jun 14 2024, In: ACS Applied Nano Materials. 7, 11, p. 12304-12311 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Ti─O─C Bonding at 2D Heterointerfaces of 3D Composites for Fast Sodium Ion Storage at High Mass Loading Level

Yu, D., Guo, K., Hou, F., Zhang, Y., Ye, X., Zhang, Y., Ji, P., Khalilov, U., Wang, G., Zhang, X., Wang, K., Song, Y., Zhong, X., Sun, H., Zhu, J., Liang, J. & Wang, H., Jul 18 2024, In: Small. 20, 29, 2312167.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Nano-sized polymer-assisted cold sintering and recycling of ceramic composites

Zhang, J., Gomez, E. D. & Sun, H., Jun 2024, In: MRS Communications. 14, 3, p. 287-294 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

Engineering heterogeneous domains and interfaces in shape memory fibers for tunable responsive behaviors

Zhao, Z., Yang, H., Li, M., Gudi, C., Varma Kanumuru, K., Voigt, R., Babaniyi, O., Liu, T., Chen, Y. & Sun, H., Jan 15 2024, In: Chemical Engineering Journal. 480, 147936.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Versatile potassium vanadium fluorophosphate (KVPO4F) composites as Dual-Function cathode and anode materials for Potassium-Ion hybrid capacitors

Cai, J., Ding, Y., Bai, R., Zhang, C., Zhang, X., Sun, H. & Wang, G., Dec 2023, In: Journal of Colloid And Interface Science. 651, p. 534-543 10 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Molecular iron phthalocyanine catalysts on morphology-engineered graphene towards the oxygen reduction reaction

Gao, M., Liu, J., Ye, G., Zhao, Z., Liu, J., He, G., Gong, Z., Huang, K., Sun, H. & Fei, H., Oct 2023, In: Science China Materials. 66, 10, p. 3865-3874 10 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Van der waals epitaxial growth of mixed-dimensional 1D/2D heterostructures with tellurium nanowires and transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets for nonlinear optical applications

Hao, G., Xiao, J., Hao, Y., Zhou, G., Zhu, H., Gao, H., Xu, Z., Zhao, Z., Miao, L., Li, J., Sun, H. & Zhao, C., May 2023, In: Materials Today Physics. 34, 101069.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Atomic iron on porous graphene films for catalyzing the VO2+/VO2+ redox couple in vanadium redox flow batteries

Huang, J., He, G., Huang, K., Yan, M., Zhao, Z., Sun, H., Ye, G. & Fei, H., Jun 2023, In: Materials Today Physics. 35, 101117.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Covalently bonded metal-organic groups anodes for high-performance potassium-ion batteries

Jia, X., Li, S., Chen, S., Wang, L., Deng, H., Yuan, Y., Sun, H., Fu, L., Zhu, J. & Lu, B., Oct 2023, In: Science China Materials. 66, 10, p. 3827-3836 10 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Enhanced potassium-ion storage performance of bimetallic-sulfide based on regulatory reaction mechanism

Li, S., Chen, H., Zhang, Q., Deng, H., Chen, S., Shen, X., Yuan, Y., Ding, Y., Cheng, Y., Sun, H., Zhu, J. & Lu, B., Jun 15 2023, In: Chemical Engineering Journal. 466, 143342.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Alignment does matter: Design thick electrodes to improve the comprehensive lithium storage performance

Nie, B., Li, M., Yao, T., Yang, H., Duan, L., Zhang, J., Xin, G., Liu, T., Sun, H. & Lian, J., Mar 25 2023, In: Carbon. 206, p. 105-113 9 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Cold sintering-enabled interface engineering of composites for solid-state batteries

Nie, B., Liu, T., Alcoutlabi, M., Basu, S., Kumara, S., Li, M., Lian, J. & Sun, H., 2023, In: Frontiers in Energy Research. 11, 1149103.

Research output: Contribution to journalShort surveypeer-review

Liquid Crystal Phase-Regulated Hierarchical Structures for High-Performance Silicon-Graphene Anodes

Nie, B., Sanchez, D., Alcoutlabi, M., Liu, T., Wang, G. & Sun, H., Oct 27 2023, In: ACS Applied Nano Materials. 6, 20, p. 18757-18766 10 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Multifunctional composite designs for structural energy storage

Nie, B., Lim, J., Liu, T., Kovalenko, I., Guo, K., Liang, J., Zhu, J. & Sun, H., Nov 2023, In: Battery Energy. 2, 6, 20230023.

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Regulating the size and assembled structure of graphene building blocks for high-performance silicon nanocomposite anodes

Nie, B., Sanchez, D., Alcoutlabi, M., Liu, T., Basu, S., Kumara, S., Wang, G. & Sun, H., Jul 14 2023, In: Energy Advances. 2, 9, p. 1381-1389 9 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review